TOLEDO, Ohio — Three games into the season, Boise State's Chris Petersen isn't listening to any talk about how the No. 8 Broncos already have passed their toughest tests.

He just hopes his players get the message.

"We've already talked about it," Petersen said. "We've only played three games and nobody in college football plays three-game seasons. We're not even kind of halfway through."

The Broncos (3-0) have beaten Oregon and Fresno State, but they'll need to be ready today at Bowling Green (1-2), which has played well despite its losing record.

Bowling Green led at Missouri for much of their game two weeks ago before giving up a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 27-20 loss. A week later, the Falcons allowed 10 points in the final quarter at Marshall, losing 17-10.

"We've been there. We've just got to do a better job executing late in the game," said Dave Clawson, Bowling Green's first-year coach. "The only positive that comes is we learn some things."

Staying close to the explosive Broncos is something not many teams have done in recent years. "That's going to be the challenge," Clawson said.

Bowling Green's close losses worry Peterson.

"That usually means you're going to be facing a very hungry football team," he said.

The Broncos' other biggest challenge over the next six weeks may be jet lag.

After Bowling Green, they'll return home before traveling to Tulsa and Hawai'i in October. Then there's an early November game at Louisiana Tech. They'll log about 14,000 miles in the air on those four trips.

And they'll be big favorites in each of those games.

Petersen doesn't want to hear any of that. "There are just too many obstacles along the road that these kids are going to have to fight and fight hard," he said. "We know we are going to get everybody's best shot."

Petersen knows there's still plenty of time for things to go wrong.

The Broncos learned this week they'll be without second-leading rusher D.J. Harper, who has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and likely will miss the rest of the season.

Boise State will rely more on Jeremy Avery, who has 297 yards on 45 carries. Doug Martin, a defensive back who has seven tackles this season, will take Harper's spot in the backfield.

Martin has seen limited action the last two seasons at running back, but Petersen said he expects it to be an easy transition for the offense.

"We're going to be a work in progress," Petersen said. "It's going to be three or four more games before I feel like I know what I've got."

Bowling Green had its own troubles in the backfield last week, rushing for 10 yards on 20 carries against Marshall.

That's why quarterback Tyler Sheehan ended up 43 for 62 passing — setting school records for attempts and completions — for 383 yards.

Sheehan's a three-year starter and has completed 68 percent of his throws this year.

His favorite target, Freddie Barnes, caught 17 passes a week ago.

"He was getting them short, getting them deep," Petersen said. "They're smart, they move him around and get him the ball any way they can."

Barnes will line up at receiver, running back and even take a few snaps.

"We worked extremely hard through the summer to get our chemistry," Sheehan said. "He's the guy we go to and so far not a lot of people have been able to cover him."

Boise State will be the highest-ranked team in history to play at Bowling Green's Doyt Perry Stadium.

The Broncos beat the Falcons a year ago, 20-7, scoring three first-half touchdowns. The Falcons missed a pair of field goals and had a costly fourth-quarter fumble deep in Broncos territory.